Managing the Reputation of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA): The case of the corruption crisis

• Main Author: Labiba Abdel Naby. Ibrahim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Insitute for Public Relations 2017-10-01
• Series: Public Relations Journal
• Online Access: https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/FIFA-Corruption.pdf

Reputation management is essential to associations, particularly after a crisis. As an example, a corruption crisis happened after Swiss authorities arrested some Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) officials and issued criminal charges regarding bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. There is considerable scrutiny of how profit and nonprofit corporations manage their reputations after crises, with less attention focused on international associations. This case study examines how FIFA used the media and communication strategies to protect its reputation after the corruption scandal of May 2015. We analyze FIFA news releases, examine press conferences, and investigate its website, including how this crisis affected relationships with stakeholders (largely sponsors and partners).It is understood that reputation management and open communication channels help rebuild trust. This study shows that FIFA depended on a “Deny strategy” to avoid responsibility, as there was no benefit in using the mass media. They organized a press conference to make a few statements via their official website, with little media use.